BISHOP MARALIT, GOD'S GIFT FOR THE JUBILEE YEAR 2025

At noon of September 21 (Rome time), exactly one year since the acceptance of the resignation of Bishop Buenaventura Famadico as Bishop of San Pablo, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has appointed Most Reverend Marcelino Antonio Maralit, currently Bishop of Boac, as the fifth Bishop of San Pablo.

Bishop Junie, as he is called, was a clergy of the Archdiocese of Lipa. He was appointed Bishop of Boac by the same pope on December 31, 2014, and was consecrated March 13, 2015. Previous to being elected as bishop, he served in several posts in the Archdiocese of Lipa, including as Rector of St. Francis de Sales Major Seminary in Lipa City.

The appointment of Bishop Junie comes as a gift to the Diocese of San Pablo as we approach the Jubilee Year 2025. As the theme of the Holy Year suggests, we are all Pilgrims of Hope, and now God sends us a pastor who will lead us towards the path of synodality. Fiat mihi secundum Verbum tuum (Let it be done to me according to your word)—Bishop Junie's episcopal motto—will bring us to a collaborative action as one diocese.

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